And while we are on the subject it still happens and has happened recently in the U.S

From Wiki.

Quote:

The musician Taco Ockerse stirred up controversy in 1983 by using dancers in blackface for his hit synthpop version of Puttin' on the Ritz.

Former Illinois congressman and House Republican party minority leader Bob Michel caused a minor stir in 1988, when on the USA Today television program he fondly recalled minstrel shows in which he had participated as a young man and expressed his regret that they had fallen out of fashion.[102][103]

In 1993, white actor Ted Danson ignited a firestorm of controversy when he appeared at a Friars Club roast in blackface, delivering a risqué shtick written by his then love interest, African-American comedian Whoopi Goldberg. Recently, gay white performer Chuck Knipp has used drag, blackface, and broad racial caricature while portraying a character named "Shirley Q. Liquor" in his cabaret act, generally performed for all-white audiences. Knipp's outrageously stereotypical character has drawn criticism and prompted demonstrations from black, gay and transgender activists.[104]
[edit] 21st century

Blackface and minstrelsy also serve as the theme of Spike Lee's film Bamboozled (2000). It tells of a disgruntled black television executive who reintroduces the old blackface style and is horrified by its success.[105]

In recent years, there have been several inflammatory blackface "incidents" where white college students donned blackface as part of possibly innocent, but insensitive, gags, or as part of an acknowledged climate of racism and intolerance on campus. Such incidents usually escalate around Halloween, with students often acting out racial stereotypes.[106][107][108][109]
This elaborate, figural Art deco Ronson tabletop cigarette lighter, manufactured in 1936, is an example of an everyday consumer item rendered in classic darky iconographical style.

In November 2005, controversy erupted when journalist Steve Gilliard posted a photograph on his blog. The image was of African American Michael S. Steele, a politician, then a candidate for U.S. Senate. It had been doctored to include bushy, white eyebrows and big, red lips. The caption read, "I's simple Sambo and I's running for the big house." Gilliard, also African American, defended the image, commenting that the politically conservative Steele has "refused to stand up for his people."[110]

In October 2009, a talent-search skit on Australian TV's Hey Hey It's Saturday reunion show featured an Australian tribute group for Michael Jackson, the "Jackson Jive" in blackface, with the Michael Jackson character in whiteface. American performer Harry Connick, Jr. was one of the guest judges and objected to the act, stating that he believed it was offensive to African-Americans, and gave the troupe a score of zero. The show and the group later apologized to Connick, with the troupe leader of Indian descent stating that the skit was not intended to be offensive or racist.[111]

In 2010 An episode of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia comically explored if blackface could ever be done "right" [112]

Commodities bearing iconic "darky" images, from tableware, soap and toy marbles to home accessories and T-shirts, continue to be manufactured and marketed in the U.S. and elsewhere. Some are reproductions of historical artifacts, while others are so-called "fantasy" items, newly designed and manufactured for the marketplace. There is a thriving niche market for such item in the U.S., particularly, as well as for original artifacts of darky iconography. The value of vintage "negrobilia" pieces has risen steadily since the 1970s.[113]

Korea has been called out for this type of thing before. They KNOW that it is wrong. They may not have the history, but they have the knowledge. That they continue to do this sort of thing is not innocent.

They might not know or think it is wrong, but are learning that many people who might be a potential market for K-Pop find it offensive.

I'm not sure if this has already been posted, but a friend showed this to me today, and I was disgusted.

I hope you were disgusted at your fellow American, Tom Hanks who got in on the act too.

It's not just Koreans who are the guilty party (shock, horror)

Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks has been forced to apologise after a video emerged of him on stage with a man in blackface.

The footage was shot in 2004 at a fundraising event at his children’s school, St. Matthew's Parish School, in California and has been released online by American political website The Daily Caller.

The grainy video shows Hanks chatting and joking with a man identified by The Daily Caller as investment banker James Montgomery, who is wearing blackface, dressed in ‘African tribal wear' and holding a toy gorilla.

During the clip Hanks auctions a ‘trophy gorilla’, complete with banana-shaped earrings. “It comes with a dowry,” he said.